Selective manipulation of ZnO nanowires by controlled dielectrophoretic force

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire has wide applications in optoelectronics, chemical sensing, and photovoltaics because of its unique mechanical and electrical properties. In order to manipulate ZnO nanowires, some researchers have tried to align them by dielectrophoretic (DEP) force. The traditional analysis of DEP force on nanowires is only limited to a special case when the electrical field is uniform with the nanowires. In this paper, we propose a more comprehensive method that could be applied to general cases. Simulation studies are also performed to evaluate the influences of different parameters. We find that by controlling the frequency of the electric field, ZnO nanowires can be selectively aligned to the electrodes.